Alex Schomburg pour "Thrilling Comics"

Alex Schomburg ~ COVERS ARTWORK

Alex Schomburg Alex Schomburg was born on May 10, 1905 in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He was the youngest of four brothers in his family. The eldest brother was Fred.

His next-oldest brother was August, who also became a pulp artist and created many covers for Flying Aces in the late 1930s.Then William anf then Alex.

In 1917 Fred was twenty five and he moved to New York City and brought along his three younger brothers, including twelve year old Alex, who was sent to public school. They lived in Harlem at 630 West 124th Street, near Broadway. In 1923 all four brothers started their own freelance art studio, with Fred as the manager and salesman, William as a clerk, and August and Alex as the artists. They build window displays, lettered signs, and illustrated song slides for theater organists. In 1928 they sold the business to a manufacturer of slides, and the company then hired Alex Schomburg to work for them.

In 1929 he joined the National Screen Service company as a staff artist, where he helped to produce movie trailers for fifteen years.

In his free time he also created freelance illustrations. His first assignments to appear in published magazines were Westerns, Popular Detective, Radio Craft, Sky Raiders, Thrilling Adventures.

He sold his first science-fiction themed magazine cover in 1939. According to the artist, "One day the publisher asked me to do an illustration for Thrilling Wonder Stories

From the late 1930s to the late 1940s he created over five hundred covers for comic books, including Captain America, The Human Torch, Sub Mariner, Black Terror, and The Green Hornet.

He left the comic industry in the 1950s and concentrated on illustrating books and science fiction magazines, including the Winston Science Fiction series for young readers.

According to Stan Lee, "Alex Schomburg was totally unique. I remember hearing Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman tell me time and again how great a cover illustrator Alex was, and how he wished we had more like him. He was the only artist I knew able to combine strong, dramatic layouts, and exciting superhero action with a simplistic, almost cartoony style of execution. One could never be sure if Alex was an illustrator who approached his work like a cartoonist, or a cartoonist who chose to render his artwork like an illustrator. Despite the quantity of work we gave him, despite the care and effort that went

into

every

Schomburg

cover,

I

cannot

remember Alex ever being late with any illustration.

He was as reliable as he was talented."

I had always been interested in science fiction and they liked the way I handled the art work. I enjoy reading the story as much as doing the illustrations.

In my opinion an illustration is very important. For instance, give the same story to two different persons...then ask them to picture a certain scene.

You can bet they'll be entirely different."

He created interiors and cover paintings for Startling Stories, Fantastic Story, Dynamic Science Fiction, Science Fiction Quarterly, and Thrilling Wonders Stories.

Alex Schomburg died at age 92 on April 7, 1998.

Princess Pantha is a fictional jungle heroine that appeared in comic books published by Nedor Comics. The character was revived twice; first by AC Comics, and second by writer Alan Moore for his Tom Strong spin-off, Terra Obscura. She first appeared in Thrilling Comics #56 (October 1946).

Nedor Comics Princess Pantha is one of the many characters inspired by Sheena, Queen of the Jungle that appeared in in the 1940s. Her origin story is told in her first appearance: Pantha is a circus performer visiting Africa to find a legendary wild gorilla for her act.

She was accidentally stranded in the jungles of Africa for several months, and survived by virtue of her ability to sound like a gorilla.

She soon replaces her Western clothing with her trade-mark leopard-skin bikini. Even after being rescued by adventurer Dane Hunter, Pantha decides to stay in Africa to search for the mysterious white gorilla.

The adventures of Princess Pantha appeared in Thrilling Comics from issue #56 until #74 (October 1949), when she was replaced by stories about cowboy Buck Ranger. Art Saaf illustrated most of Pantha's stories, with Alex Schomburg drawing all her cover appearances.

AC Comics During the 1990s, AC Comics reprinted the adventures of Princess Pantha, along with many other public domain characters from the Golden Age of Comic Books. AC comics later published new adventures featuring Princess Pantha for their Jungle Girls: Wild Side series.

America's Best Comics Princess Pantha and Doc Strange on the cover of Terra Obscura Vol. 2 #1Princess Pantha is one of the many Nedor Comics characters revived by Alan Moore for his Tom Strong spin-off, Terra Obscura. The stories were published by America's Best Comics, originally an imprint of Wildstorm, now an imprint of DC Comics.

In Tom Strong #11 (January 2001), Strong visits the alternate Earth of Tom Strange, which he names Terra Obscura. The superhero team of Terra Obscura, SMASH, had been imprisoned in suspended animation since facing an alien menace in 1969.

Strong and Strange are able to overcome the alien menace thirty years later, and free SMASH. Princess Pantha is one of the heroes freed by the duo in Tom Strong #12 (June 2001).

Pantha appears in Terra Obscura vol. 2 (October 2004 - May 2005), as an associate member of SMASH. She also begins dating Doc Strange, as her husband Dale Hunter had died while she was in suspended animation. These stories were written by Peter Hogan, based on plots provided by Alan Moore. The artwork was supplied by Yanick Paquette.

The stories featuring Princess Pantha have been collected in several trade paperbacks.

Tom Strong: Book Two, issues 8-14 (hardcover: ISBN 1-84023456-3, paperback: ISBN 1-56389-880-2).

Terra Obscura v2 (ISBN 1-4012-0622-0, 2005). Collects issues #7-12.

Powers and abilities Princess Pantha has no superhuman powers. She is highly athletic, is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has mastery of jiujitsu. She is an accomplished animal trainer.

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1946

#56

Thrilling Comics #56 Davis Crippen, First appearance of Princess Pantha.

Alex Schomburg cover

#57

DOC STRANGE covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1947

#58

#59

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1947

#60

#61

Alex Schomburg as Xela-style cover features Princess Pantha dispatching an alligator with her trusty dagger. The beauty and grace of the Princess on this airbrushed cover is nigh incomparable as rendered by this master artist.

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1947

#62

#63

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1948

#64

#65

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1948

#66

#67

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1948

#68

#69

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1949

#70

#71

JUNGLE GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #56 to #74 1949

#72

#73

COW ~ GIRL covers

Alex Schomburg Thrilling Comics ARTWORK #58 to #74 1949

#74

COW ~ GIRL covers